Originally Posted by first_watch
I'm currently reading American Gods by Neil Gaiman and Neverwhere also by Neil Gaiman.

So many recommendations I had to order it too! I really liked Neverwere which was televised by BBC.

Just recently kickstarted my reading (after some 10 years pause) by reading The Master and Margarita. Planned on watching the televised version, but since I've given up the telly I bought the book instead. Now reading We. Both books are a bit hard to read in english. Margarita in particular has a lot of characters and variations on wording, but my companion The Sage is a helpful assistant.

Currently working on Jarka Ruus by Terry Brooks. For some reason, his books always sit in my drawer forever even though I really enjoy them once I finally pull them out to read. Pretty much the same situation with this one so far.

Haven't updated here in quite a while. Let's see…Feed by Mira Grant - neat zombie apocalypse thing, although the conspiracy theory story gets a bit stretched at times, enjoyed it enough that I'll get getting the next book in the series

Myth-Quoted Not by Robert Asprin - not really a bad book, but the magic of the series has clearly left the building, Nye does do a respectable job of maintaining the consistency of most of the colorful characters

Blood King by Gail Z Martin - Book 1 in the series was pretty good so I got book 2. It felt like an ending even though there are 2 more books and I wasn't really moved to continue. Decent story with decent characters, but not enough to keep me going.

— Sorry. No pearls of wisdom in this oyster.
Dallas Cowboys: Let's Get to Work / / Detroit Red Wings: Welcome, Coach Blash!

I'm reading REAMDE By Neal Stephenson. It has some really exciting and funny good parts involving the "Russian mafia", and but also some really boring parts about managing a MMO. Kind of stalling on it.

Just finished Winter of the World, the 2nd book in the new Follett series. It was excellent, I'm guessing the 3rd book will deal with cold war tensions and such. Now I'm rereading the Walking Dead compendium, collecting issues 1-48 into one massive book. Read the comics years ago, the first 3 yrs or so, looking forward to reading some of the newer issues at some point.

I'm nearing the end of Deadhouse Gates, second book in Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen. I understand a lot more now about the first. Same impressions: pretty epic overall; the characters feel more distant than those in other fantasy works I'm used to.

— "Mystery is important. To know everything, to know the whole truth, is dull. There is no magic in that. Magic is not knowing, magic is wondering about what and how and where." ~ Cortez, from The Longest Journey

Road Dogs by Elmore Leonard. I enjoyed it as much as the prequel Out of Sight. This one gave a lot of nice background on the characters, was an enjoyable read. Hopefully there will be another novel featuring Jack Foley as the protagonist.

Originally Posted by Maylander
Recently started The Dark Tower series by King. So far, so good.

I'm a big fan of Stephen King, but this series I just couldn't get into. Got as far as Wastelands and had to quit. The dialogue just seemed so phony I couldn't take it. Plus I never cared for the whole ka-tet thing, which would be a barrier to enjoy the series. I really wanted to like it, but ultimately I put it down.

Finished Deadhouse Gates. And to sum up the first two tales of the Malazan Empire so far: impressive. Looking forward to the third one, which takes place in parallel with book two, but on a different continent or so. In some ways the stories feel like Iain M. Banks Culture series with all the ideas that are being presented; just on one planet and in a magic fantasy setting instead of distant future Sci-Fi. Great stuff.

There's an upcoming book I'm dying to read before that, though — A Memory of Light (ebook). Finally! While I don't mind the goriness in Malazan too much, a change of pace is always welcome. Will pass the time until then with more of H.P. Lovecraft's short stories.

Originally Posted by Maylander
Recently started The Dark Tower series by King. So far, so good.

Want to do that as well at some point. I'm going to follow the suggested reading order for the extended series, which includes not only the Dark Tower, but also a good measure of other King books.
I only remember having read IT before, which was terrific, and having watched a couple movies, which were mostly so-so.

— "Mystery is important. To know everything, to know the whole truth, is dull. There is no magic in that. Magic is not knowing, magic is wondering about what and how and where." ~ Cortez, from The Longest Journey

Switched from Lovecraft to Ursula K. Le Guin and Tehanu, fourth novel from the Earthsea Cycle. She has a way with words that's very charming: simple yet elegant, it makes me feel nostalgic and think of my childhood wonders.

I also realized she has written Sci-Fi novels, so after some quick research I'll have to put the Hainish Cycle on my list. From it, The Left Hand of Darkness and The Dispossessed were mentioned most often (award-winning and such). Not sure if I should pursue the chronological or publication reading order.

— "Mystery is important. To know everything, to know the whole truth, is dull. There is no magic in that. Magic is not knowing, magic is wondering about what and how and where." ~ Cortez, from The Longest Journey

Originally Posted by Gloo
Read stuff from her many years ago but can't put the title on it. Wasn't she the lady who went along with Philip K. Dick back in their glory years ?

No idea, it was before my time. I'm discovering classics and am happy for it, because it provides for variety.

George R.R. Martin has some good reading recommendations on his blog. I have now put Conan on my list, as well as The Dying Earth, Watership Down, Gormenghast, The Once and Future King and some others. Those old books read very different from what we are used to nowadays. Fantasy has become quite sophisticated and thrilling, often branching out towards darker, gray themes — I like those a lot as well, but sometimes it's nice going back to the classic 80's/90's sort of Tolkienesque fantasy I grew up with: Magician, Wheel of Time, Shannara, Dragonlance. Luckily I still have the Belgariad before me. And if I'm tired of fantasy or historical stories, I'll return to Sci-Fi. Good times.

Currently wrapping up The Other Wind, last book in the Earthsea series. It's nice, but also more "down to earth" than the original trilogy. Before this I had fun with Tales from Earthsea, short stories and background info along the lines of the Silmarillion.

— "Mystery is important. To know everything, to know the whole truth, is dull. There is no magic in that. Magic is not knowing, magic is wondering about what and how and where." ~ Cortez, from The Longest Journey